After I left the Costa Blanca, I drove 3 hours up the motorway to Hotel Diego in Santa Bàrbara. This was a pin-in-the-map exercise in the sense that it was exactly half-way to the next night’s stop near Girona, but turned out to be an extremely serendipitous choice.
An oasis with its own alternative universe
Hotel Diego isn’t much to look at from the outside but an overnight stay was very reasonable (€64) and included breakfast. It was easy to get to with loads of parking and the flat countryside and distant mountain range were very easy on the eye. My room was unexpectedly luxurious and stylish with a lovely roof terrace. The staff were very laid back and friendly.
The hotel bills itself as a gastronomic hostelry, so I opted for the €17 fixed price menu, which was duly delivered with a whole bottle of wine. The food was simple and tasty. I felt a bit like a lush asking to take my wine bottle up to my room after dinner – but what I saw next day showed I needn’t have had such qualms.
The traditional Catalan breakfast
When I checked into the hotel in the evening, I seemed to be practically the only guest. There were only a couple of other (solo, male) diners apart from me and the board in reception was full of unallocated keys.
Next morning was a different story!
When I came down for breakfast at about 9 o’clock, all the tables were packed with male diners. Some had clearly already finished their meals and abandoned their tables which hadn’t yet been cleared. At first I was a bit puzzled – the tables were full of cava and wine bottles, so could it be that they hadn’t been cleared from the previous evening?
But no, the tables that were still occupied bore a healthy array of cava and wine bottles too – plus soda siphons.
I asked the waiter if this was a special occasion, a wedding maybe? But he just laughed and said breakfast was always like this. I was amazed, apart from anything else, it was a Tuesday!
I had so many questions: where had all the men come from, were they local or travelling through, how would they leave after all that alcohol and why only men?
I found this passage about cava on the Culinarybackstreets website, which went some way towards explaining it: “Cava can accompany an entire meal or really any meal of the day. It goes particularly well with a traditional hearty Catalan breakfast, but it can also be enjoyed as a light apéritif out on a terrace before lunch with some salad, olives or pickles.”
Before I left, a few other punters dropped in including, finally, a couple of women. Even though they didn’t opt for the “Full Catalan”, they were still knocking back beers with cheerful disregard.
I left with some regret, vowing to return some day to enjoy the delights of the Full Catalan myself.
Cal Gat
Next stop was Emma and Dom’s place Cal Gat in a village near Girona, practically on the French border. It was great to catch up with them and go for some walks with their two Catalan sheepdogs and their other dog Scruffy.
The following day, we all worked most of the day. I was getting to the end of a big translation due to be delivered in a couple of days’ time. About 5 pm, I set off to drive to the Grimaldi ferry terminal in Barcelona to get the ferry to Rome.
Barcelona-Rome ferry
I’ve taken the Grimaldi ferry a few times in both directions and had mixed experiences with it. It’s more basic than, say, Brittany Ferries, but quite a lot cheaper and more relaxed.
There are fewer staff, so driving on and off can be a bit chaotic. This time I only stalled twice on the car deck up-ramp and everything else went remarkably well.
All the outdoor action is crammed around a small part of Deck 11 – and the available tables and sun loungers quickly get filled.
There were plenty of dogs as usual. They can be taken everywhere throughout the boat and they can sleep in your cabin. A handy dog kit is provided and there are a couple of dog loos on the outdoor decks, which are regularly hosed.
The weather was lovely on this crossing and it was only windy enough to blow a croissant off my plate. On a previous crossing, it was blowing such a gale you couldn’t go on deck and I saw several small dogs become airborne.
Lottie had a good crossing. It was definitely a good move to get the quicker ferry that doesn’t stop in Sardinia because we arrived at a reasonable time – 6 pm. Otherwise the boat gets in about 10-11 at night and there’s a lot of tired waiting around before disembarkation as you have to vacate your cabin 3 hours before arrival.
As it was, the ferry arrived early. I’d opted to stay near the port in Tarquinia that night rather than drive to Capena. It took us just minutes to drive there in beautiful evening sunshine and it proved an inspired move…
